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Sebastian Vettel was quickest in the second practice session in Korea, while teammate Mark Webber was second. Photo by LAT PHOTGRAPHIC

Red Bull's Vettel, Webber set the pace in F1 practice at Korea

October 11, 2012

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Sebastian Vettel was quickest in Formula One practice in Korea on Friday, as once again Red Bull Racing looked to be the team to beat in qualifying on Saturday.

Vettel has won the past two races—Singapore and Japan—and trails series points leader Fernando Alonso by just four points.

The Yeongam track in Korea was very dusty as practiced began on Friday, but lap times soon came down. Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the morning session, ahead of Alonso and Vettel's teammate Mark Webber. In the afternoon on the supersoft tires, Vettel took control, while Webber was second.

“I think we can be quite happy,” Vettel said. “It looks extremely tight. I'm not happy with every run we had today. The track was changing quite a lot this morning, so [the time] was better than expected. This afternoon to start with it was quite slippery, but then I think it got a little better. All in all, the car felt alright. Now we see what can we do for [Saturday]. I think we have to improve ourselves to much the others.”

Webber said the weekend is going according to play for the Red Bull team.

“We had a pretty good program set out,” said Webber. “We have to look at where we can improve tonight, because in areas it's always a compromise. The track is about top speed in the first sector, and the last bit is twisty in terms of rhythm, it's a little bit like Budapest, and you need downforce there.”

Regarding the typically dusty surface, Webber said: “I was surprised that the track was as good as it was—we've had worse. The track will change, but it's not our first Grand Prix, so we're ready for that. Hopefully we'll stay ahead of the game, and have a smooth run again tomorrow. The most important day is a smooth run on Sunday. We had similar runs in Suzuka, but only one of us got the job done.”

Ferrari's Alonso remained the closest challenger to the Red Bulls, the championship leader just nipping McLaren's Jenson Button for third place on the practice chart. McLaren was good over longer runs, however, which bodes well for the race.

After a bad patch, Mercedes looked good at a track where the car's straightline speed provided a good advantage. Michael Schumacher took fifth place and Nico Rosberg seventh, the pair split by Felipe Massa in the other Ferrari.

Hamilton was only eighth in the other McLaren after struggling to find speed, while the top 10 was completed by Nico Hulkenberg and Kimi Räikkönen, the latter running an updated Lotus with a new exhaust system.

The day ran without major dramas although Sauber's Sergio Pérez lost a lot of track time in the afternoon after stopping on the circuit.